Hardware package



Aug. 27, 1935. K. B. MASON HARDWARE PACKAGE Filed Dec. 19, 1952 GOOoooooo INVENTOR.

Patented Aug. 27, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT QFF HARDWA E PACKAGE aKenneth'Berry Mason, Hohokus, N. J;

i v Application December 19, 1932, sc -m m. 647,883

a 3 Claims, (01. 20646) invention relates in general to the pack-.

ing ofarticles having an enlarged head and a relatively narrow neck orbody portion, and in particular to a means: for packing screws, boltsand the like, and to a merchandise package com-.

prising the "same.

It is a general, object of my invention to provide means for packingscrews, bolts and the like in a simple and economical'mannerparticularly with respect to the saving of time in han-. dling lotscomprisinga plurality. of such articles;

A- specific object of my invention resides in an article of manufacturecomprising means for supporting aiplurality'of screws,bolts and the likein orderlyv assembly, and resilient means normally preventing. theescapeof said articles from theisupportand adapted to release saidarticles when pressure actuated.

It is a further specific object of my invention to provide a convenientpackage comprising a plurality, of. screws, bolts and the like and meanssupporting and maintaining said articles in an v orderly assembly. 7

. Other objects of the inventionwill in part be obvious and will in partappear hereinafter. v

The inventionaccordingly comprises articles of manufacture possessingthefeatures, proper ties, and the relation of elements which will beexemplified in the articles hereinafter described and the scope of the;invention willzbe indicated.v

in the claims.

' .In the art to which myfiinvention appertains it has long been thecustomto pack screws and bolts loose'condition chiefly because it hasnot been ffoundpossible to" pack them in unit lots in orderly.arrangement ina simpleand economi cal manner 'without;' addingmaterially to; the

retail selling price. Retailing articles of this character in looseco'ndition results in the disadvantage among others'that a great wasteof time occurs in counting the articles by hand when they are retailedin small unit lots.

I have discovered a method of packing screws;

been formed into the means hereinafter Idescribed. I

Figure-3. is a plan view of apackage containing screws'assembled in themeans illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure '4 is arvertical sectional view of 3 the means shown in FigureZ.I l Figures 5,. and 6 represent side elevation ofan assembly of screwsand of boltsrespectivelylin the means shown in'Fig.,2. f j Figure '7represents. an enlarged vertical sectional view of the assembly ofFigure 5 taken 2 means for assemblingjscrews, bolts, etc., in plan view.g a

Figur'e'lO is'a side elevation of a package as sembled by ure9'. v'Referringto the'drawing, I provide a strip of resilient. materialsuch,for example/as a relathe use. of the means shown in Figt'ively narrow.stripof sheet ironiinwhich there is punched a plurality of holes. Thediameters of such holes should be slightly larger than the necks of thescrews, bolts or the like which fitlis proposed to pack. In onemodification ofthe invention a strip of thin sheet iron lisprovided witha row of equi-dist'ant 'holes 2 of suitable size having regard for thearticle to, be packed As shown in Figure 2. and Figurej l I maybend theedge portions adjacent'the 1ongitudina1 cen-, tral' portion upwardly andinwardly so; as to make with respect tothe central sectiomanap;

preciable angle as; illustrated in'the drawing so 7 that the members3Qmake an angle ofjabout I with respectfto thetfiatf central section.lfhe clearance provided between the respective edges 4 of thesesidenienibers 3 should be substa ntia'lly the likein said means abovedescribed, the shank, neck or narrow portion 4 of. the article isinserted between the side members 3 and throughthe holes 2. 'I'he heador larger portion! of the article is'then' forced between the sidemembers 3. For screws and bolts having a head which tapers into the neckportion the resilient side members .3 will be forced apart by applyingpressure to the head. For packing bolts without tapering heads it willbe found necessary to spring the side members 3 apart until theheadpasses through. Without transcending the scopeof my invention I mayinsert the articles in holes provided in a flat strip and then cause theside members to be erected in the desired position in a known manner.

Referring to Figure 9 I may, during or subsequent to the operation ofpunching the holes iii-the strip I, produce a plurality of cuts 6extending radially or otherwise from said holes. The portions of,metalfdefined between a pair of cuts on opposite sides of therespective holes are bent upward along a line connecting the ends of apair of said cuts until they are inclined at an angle of about withrespect to the base shown in Figure 10. The upraised portions 1cooperate to normally restrain the head of the screw or bolt frompassing therebetween except when pressure actuated from below by saidhead being forced against the restraining members.

The improved packing meansabove described may, for convenience, bereferred-to as a clip. The clip of this invention is accordingly seen tocomprise a support having a plurality of. holes adapted to receive thenarrow or restricted parts of the several ,articles to be packed thereinand resilient members cooperating normally to prevent the escape of said.articleby p 3 closing the head or'enlargedpart of said articles, theresilient members being adapted to release the article when pressure isapplied upwardly on'the shanks of the articles. a

' It is obvious that, without transcending the scope of my invention, Imay provide a support'- ing strip having a plurality of rows of holes.Further the strip may have the ,resilient side members mounted thereonin known manner instead of integral therewith. In certain cases, forexample, with screws or bolts having a head making an angle of with theneck or shank, I may employa single resilient side or restrainingmember,'and such will be found suitable for restraining and preventingthe escape of such an article from the support. I

The novel clip ofjmy' invention is adapted for packing a plurality ofarticles having the gen-o eral shape of screws (and bolts, which may beof various types such as wood screws, machine screws, lag screws, stovebolts, machine bolts,

carriage bolts. In the appended claims the expressionfscrews, bolts orthe like is intended to cover other'articles' having the generalshape ofsuch articlesi The novel package provided by use of-the clip of thisinvention is convenient" and economical for retailing a'plurality ofarticles such as screws and bolts and the like. As the clip may be madeof any desired dimensions and with any desired number of holes, thenumberof'articles to be retailed per unit ofgcost may'be included in asingle package. The flnov'el clip also provides a shown in theaccompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not. in alimiting sense. l

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a hardware package comprising aplurality of screws, bolts 7 oi-like objects having a relative largehead and a relative narrow elongated shank, and means flmaintaining saidarticles in orderly assembly comprising a rigid metal strip providedwith a plurality of holes adapted to receive the shanks only of saidarticles and resilient metal members'integral with said strip and,positionedatan angle of about 45 withrespect to said strip, theopposing resilient memhersbeing directed toward each. other and normallypreventing the escape of said artielesfrom the holes and adapted torelease the articles when pressure is applied upwardly on the shanks ofthe articles,

2. As an article of manufacture, a hardware package comprisingaplurality of screws, bolts or like objects .having .a relative largehead anda relative narrow elongated shank, and means maintaining saidarticles in orderly assembly comprising a rigid metal strip thelongitudinal central section of which is provided with a plurality ofholes adapted to receive the shanks only of said articles and thelongitudinalside sections of said strip forming resilient memberspositioned at an angle of about 45 with respect to the central section,the opposing resilient members being directed toward each other andnormally preventing the escape of saidarticles from the .holes andadapted torelease the articles when pressure is applied upwardly'on theshanks of the articles.

"3. As an article of manufacture, a hardware package comprising aplurality of screws, bolts or like objects having means maintaining saidarticles in orderly'assembly comprisin'g a rigid metal strip providedwith a plurality 91110185 adapted to receive the shanks only ofsaidarticles. and resilient members formed by cutting said strip along linesextending radially from saidholes andpositioned at anlangle of about 45with respect tosaid strip,*the opposing resilient members being directed:toward eachrother and normally preventing -the escape of saicl'articles from the holes and adapted ,to release the articles whenpressure is appliedupwardly .on the

